Flume



Sept. 20, 1932. A. c. NORTON FLUME Filed April 50, 1932 INVENTOR, Q6421 Clflee ma; BY

' A TTORNEYS supporting substructure,- especiall Patented Sept.' 2i),' 1 932 I tum-TED P ,CORRUGATED CULVERT FOENIA 1 Application i ea April J30, 1932. 5 seri 'i Rel 68,395." I

The vpresent linvention-i re l ates' to sheet metal flumes and more particularly-to the rarhe'stherefor? known in the art "as substructures.

Theprincipalfobject oftheinventionis to save welght and cost; Mynove'l form of flumeand substructure permits the use inthe latter of fewer and lighter members; result ing in a considerable' saving not onlyin Weight but also in cost-of manufacture and assembly. Another objeet* is* to] provide means, Without 'the' addition of extra parts,

- for accommodating 'diiferences in longitw dinal expansion of the flume trough and the constructed of metal. i

Y Otherobjeots andfladvanta'ges ofthe' iniem tion will become apparent from the fol'lowingj specifioation, whichshould' be read jwith the understanding that changes iwithin thesoope g of the claims hereto appended; may be made in the form, construction and-arrangement of theiseveral parts described and illustrated,

'Without departing from the spirit of 'the" in- Vention as'defined in saidielaim's.

ing' drawing, in Whichf 7 "Reference will be made to itheaocompany- Fig. 1 is a-side elevation of aflume embodying a preferred form ofthe invention.

, Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on the line 22 of'Fig. 1 andenlarged.

Fig. 3 isa-transverse sectional detail use of a wooden substructure,

' 'Inthe idrawing,fthe reference numeral-'1 designates-the trough of my fiume whieh may vhe made according to standardpractise invseot1onseonnecteditogether by'any suitable e y acrosswhei tbpkbffhepflqmsi-gafid I eonnectediat theirfends'with the 'long itudinalfi f p 7 str ingers. :ITh'es'e QrOSSha-rsQQWhiehare placed approximately three ffeet -apart in flume's 5' under w v f e i ,;end;e e t he eparti iflume o .,greeterw th,ti id teriellyL-to;the weight andlcost'of-htheentire g truct e;be w e' i y,mii tobehee y e ugh transverse jointsf The." trough l is supported by the customary suspension rods 2,

whose upper ends are Connected: with longitudinal beams or stringers 3: 'When the substruetureis metal, as shown in-Figsfl and 2,

the stringers 3am preferably;channelsection members, and'the. preferred means for upper edge of the .ichann'el member 3, .The

'the piates 4' d are held and teneme- ,platess are'bentdownwardlm as shown at 7 tions the usualhcompressionfimember 'is p 1 g V p'laeed insi-de theitroughl parallelrto 'the'rodi h r 4 2 .lts ends hearing against thegplatesli'ig j' 1 r. V

Y h th let rii "the stringer to bear against the .upperaedge of 7 the trough.-- 2A tubularfmetalahushing 9 may l P be provided around the rod 2 withiiifl the Q f -stringer 3" 'to' takelthe compressiofibe'tweenn the nut 6 arid the P1ate4 xon. modification of the invention showing the AL T eoLwE n items, or BER ELEY,seminars;Assignee e ec urpgm' C950]? ERKEL l GALIE RN AIf- IQ QB 'JHQN LQAL mourn it thereto by nuts 6. 1 The inner --.ends. of 'zlthef to retainthe upper"edge of theitroughlin p Q sition ,At' the joints betyveen trough seo Tighteningi upi the rod 2 clamps therlapped 7 ends of the adjoining "trough sections-tightly i Vvhen they: "longitudinal stringers are: 56f

"nut G' bea'ring :again'sta Washer 8 i on top. of; 1 5 "the stringer, and a'plate 4. being placed-below" Y;

7 It is' -v'vellikno w'niinthe art thatsheet' fital x V :fiuines, when loaded, tendztoassumeia fcro ss s'e otiona1f shape a pmximating a ghydrosta-tic catnary r "When the flume is' initiallyeonstrueted in semioirou1arform, fits'iidistortion' under 5' load to approximate catenary" :fiorm produces a huirizontal forceupon the support-V ingstringerstending to twist 'them anddr'aw I -{themintvardly"towardieaehqother; ,In;the' f- ;usuaI i types' of flu'mes', thisi h'ori'zontal force;-

' resisted partly by making the Q stringers i sufiie'iently heavy, but princip allyQb y theuse I of I closely placed 1 '1-'ossl )airs extending hor inot v n yoto r t, th cd ir ese fi e s "placedluponthem;hutialsotosup'p o-rt 1 v I Qwnflweight; "In fiumes'twent y one ends of the suspension: rods 2 pass; through 1 for -egiamp1e, the forossbarsg {when .Jma'de of in? 1 60 betWeenisaidi-od and. the compression' meln {her- 1 Such ints ereinot material to :wthe *1 {present invention, and being Well. known in :the art have been omitted from thedrawing; e r a wood,:asshowniat yin'Figs3,;the me -may extend "directly through said; stringers; lithe i i wood, are commonly ten by ten inches in cross section.

The specific shape of the trough forms the subject matter of my copending application for Letters Patent for sheet metal flume troughs and method of forming the same. In the present .application it is sufiicient to describe the trough as having a rounded bottom and divergent sides, such shape approximating a hydraulic catenary, and being approximately that which the trough naturally assumes when loaded. The essence of the present invention resides in tilting the stringers 3, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, to place .them approximately paralleltotheupperportions of the sides ofthe trough. This tilting of the stringers, which is between fifteen and seventeenfdegrees from the vertical, brings them approximately parallel to the direction of the force exerted upon them by the weight of the water in the trough, and causes them to be loaded almost entirely in the direction of their depth or greater cross sectional dimension. The stringersaretherefore relieved of any transverse force tending to twist them or bend them laterally, and-0n this account can be made of lighter material than is customary in the usual construction. It is also possible to greatly reduce the number and increase the spacing of thecrossbars, as the latter are required'only to stifi'enthe longitudinalstringers and not torresist any considerable horizontal force." I have found it possible to reduce the'weight of the sub structure as much as fifty per cent. by this con 'struction without any sacrifice of strength or rigidity. i i I The tiltingiof the stringers 3 enables me to use a sectional system of movably connected self-supporting units for the substructure, as illustrated in Fig.- 1; Each stringer section is. supported by a Y-shaped post 10, and its ends are slightly spaced from the ends of the adjacent stringers, as indicated at 11. Bolted connecting plates '12 join the ends of adjacent stringers, and the bolt holes in at least one end of each plate 12 are elongated,as shown at 13, permitting a small amount of relative longitudinal movement between the stringers, to allow for expansion and contraction of the metal. The two stringer sections upon op- 'posite sides of the-flume are braced together preferably by two crossbars 14, there being one such crossbar at the upper end of each arm of the Y-post 10. That portion of the substructure between the two joints 11 therefore becomes a self-supporting unit, whose weight is carried by the two Y-posts 10, one on each side, and each such unit need be connected with the adjacent units only by the expansion connections 12. As a convenient means for mounting the stringers 3 upon the upper end of the Y-posts 10, I prefer to secure brackets or plates 15 to the stringers, by welding or otherwise, and to bolt the arms of the Y-posts to said plates. Cross bracing, not shown, may be used between the lower portions of the opposite Y-posts if desired. When the substructure is made of Wood, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the stringers 3 may be supported'by any suitable members such as wooden posts, one of which is indicated Mat 10'. The tilting of the stringers 3, just as in the case of the metal stringers 3 described above, permits theuse of lighter members, and reduces the number of crossbars required. Obviously, the means shown in Fig. 2 for attaching the suspension rods 2 to the stringers may be used with wooden stringers instead of the means shown in Fig. 3.

Theinitial. forming of the trough 1 to approximate catenary or natural load supporting shape reduces to a minimum its distortion under load. There is some slight change in curvature with variations in load, but such change is negligible compared with the distortion of a semicircular trough when first loaded. The minimizing of distortion not only reduces leakage at joints and increases the life of the trough and any protective coating thereupon, but also eliminates deleterious bending of the suspension rods 2. In semicircular fluines the upper ends of said rods, where they-are attached to the substructure,fare vertical, and distortion of the trough necessarily results in bending of said rods,ja condition which has been met in the past by making the upper portions of the rods ofheavier, material. 'In my improved construction, the rods can be of the same size throughout, thus eifecting a further saving in weight and cost of manufacture. V

The above described form of the trough and'the tilting of the longitudinal stringers to the same angle as the upper side portions of said trough, enables said stringers to support their load in the most efficient manner, and they can therefore be made of minimum size. They. need have only sufficient lateral strength to make them stiff, with the assist ance of a comparatively small number of crossbars, since they are loaded almost entirely in a direction parallel to their widest faces, and are not subjected to twisting forces. The greatest saving ,in' weight and cost, however, comes from the reduction in the number of crossbars required. For example, under standard construction, the flume section shown in Fig. 1 would require five crossbars, one crossbar being customarily cross sectional curvature, and a pair of longitudinally disposed supporting members between Whichsaid, trough is suspended, said to. a position approximately parallel to the upper portionsof the sides of said '7 "ough.

2. A fiume comprising a sheet metal trough having a rounded bottom and divergent sides,

V depth than width and being'tilted about their porting members between which saidtrough is suspended, SaidL member having (greater. depth than Width and'b'eing tilted about their longitudinal axes-to a position approximately parallel to the divergent sides of said trough.

3. A flume comprising a sheet metal trough, and a pai r of spaced longitudinalstringer members between WhlQllSELld trough is suspended, said stringers'having greater longitudinal axes to cause their tops I to diverge at angles between fifteen teen degrees from the vertical. 7

4:. A fiume comprising'a sheet metalt 'ough having a rounded bottom and divergent sides, I a e V a palr ofspaced longitudlnal stringer me1n- I bers having greater depth than Width and, I being tilted about their longitudinal-axes to va a ,japosition approximately parallel tothe sides of said trough, and transverse rods extending" andseven- I ble seotions,1each section comprising a pair of spaced,longitudinally'disposed stringers 7' having greater depth than Width and tilted about their longitudinal axes toa position approximately parallel to the sides of said and a pair of longitudinally disposed suptrough, means for suspendingthe trough between'said stringers, a post-for supporting each stringer, and means connecting the two stringers together and meansjfor movably- (is of the stringers of each r a sectionwiththe' endsof the stringers of-ad-V connecting theen jacent sections, said stringer ends being spacedapart to permit independent longitul dinalexpansion' and, contraction of eaoh sectionL- In -testiniony WhereotQI havesigned my I name to this specification.

beneath said trough for suspending itfrom saidstringersfihe upper ends of said rods being parallel to the sides' of sai d troughg and passingthrough said stringers.

j 5. A"flume comprising a sheet metal troughv having a rounded bottom and di Vergent' sidesia'pair of P CedllOHg' tudinQl stringer membershaving great Width and beingtilted about theirlongitudinal axes to a, position approximatelyparab lel tothe sides of said trough, transverserods of said plates. 7 p V 6. A "flume comprising a sheet metaltrough having a rounded bottom and divergent sides, a pair of spaced laterally tiltv extending beneath said trough for suspendg ing it from said stringers, theupperends of said, rods being artner mule sidesot saidtrough, and connecting'plates bearing l upon the tops of saidstringers, the outerends of said plates being bent downwardly over the outer edges of said stringers, andthe ends through the inner ends of said rods passing ed, longitudinally disposed stringers of channel section positioned vvith their flat faces A toward and-approximately parallelvvith the j sides of said'trough, connecting plates beara ing upon the tops of said stringers and hav- 1 ingtheir outer endsghooked over the upper Z flanges thereoi andtransverse suspension rods extending beneath said trough, the

inner ends of said plates,

v upper ends of said-rods being secured tothe 7. A flurne comprising a trough and a subi V structure,-said trough having a rounded bot- .tom and divergent sides, and saidsubstruc- I i 7 ture being formed of a series of self-sup ALBERT ,GOLWELL NORTON. 

